Intimate partner violence has short- and long-term physical and mental health consequences. As the largest healthcare workforce globally, nurses are well positioned to care for abused women. However, their role in this regard has not been researched in some countries. This paper is based on a qualitative study that explored how Sri Lankan nurses perceive their role in caring for women who have experienced partner violence. Interviews with 30 nurses who worked in diverse clinical and geographical settings in Sri Lanka revealed that nurses’ role involved: identifying abuse, taking care of patients’ physical needs, attending to their safety, providing support and advice, and making referrals. Barriers to providing care included lack of knowledge; heavy workload; language barriers; threats to personal safety; nurses’ status within the healthcare hierarchy; and lack of communication and collaboration between various stakeholder groups within the healthcare system. Nurses also identified a lack of appropriate services and support within hospitals and in the community. The findings reveal an urgent need for the healthcare system to respond to nurses’ educational and training needs and help them function autonomously within multidisciplinary teams when caring for abused women. The findings also point to a need to address institutional barriers including the lack of appropriate services for abused women. 1. Introduction Intimate partner violence (IPV) is defined as the threat of and/or actual physical, sexual, psychological, or verbal abuse and control by a current or former spouse or nonmarital partner [1]. IPV is a global epidemic, and it has been linked to a range of short- and long-term physical and mental health consequences [1]. Consequently, women dealing with IPV or its aftermath are more likely than women with no history of abuse to use health services including emergency departments, outpatient clinics, and in-patient units [2]. Each of these visits affords an opportunity for healthcare professionals to address women’s experiences of IPV and minimize negative health consequences [2]. As the largest healthcare workforce globally, nurses are more likely to interact with women experiencing IPV than any other healthcare professionals. Researchers have long been interested in nurses’ role in caring for women dealing with IPV, but the topic has not been investigated in some countries. This gap is a major impediment to improving the response of local health sectors to this serious health concern. This paper presents the findings from the first study to
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